IN THE STREETS

Boy, my boy, it is lonely in the city,

Days that have no pity and the nights without a tear

Follow all too slowly and I can no more dissemble;

I am frightened and I tremble — and I would that you were here.

Oh boy — God keep you.

Boy, my boy, I had sworn to weep no longer.

Time I thought was stronger than the evenings long gone by;

The ardent looks, the eager hands, the whispers hot and hurried —

But they all come back unburied and not one of them will die.

Oh boy — God save you.

Boy, my boy, you were bold with youth and power;

Your love was like a flower that you wore upon your sleeve.

And wherever you may go there'll be a girl with eyes that glisten;

A girl to watch and listen, and a girl for you to leave.

Oh boy — God help her!